Game will pause to remember Cowboy Alex Elisala

Pam has been at the Daily Mercury since March 2013 and has also worked as a journalist in Batemans Bay and Wellington both in NSW. And yes, that does make her a Blues supporter. Growing up she moved around different places including Sydney, Moree, Wollongong and lived for about two years as a high school student on a small island in Micronesia called Pohnpei. Pam loves water sports, including SCUBA diving, snorkelling and kayaking but her awful balance means she’ll never touch a surf board. Ever...

A COWBOYS player whose life was tragically cut short in Mackay earlier this week will be remembered when Parramatta Stadium pauses for a minute's silence at this weekend's game between the Cowboys and Eels.

The Cowboys will also wear armbands in honour of their Townsville teammate, Alex Elisala, who died in Mackay Base Hospital on Monday night after an incident at a CBD hotel.

He was in Mackay after playing for the Cutters last Saturday night.

Elisala, 20, is the second rugby league player to take his own life this year. The other is Wests Tigers NRL squad member Mosese Fotuaika.

According to figures from Rugby League Week, one in five players polled in their annual survey said they had suffered from depression.

In the poll of 100 players, 76% said they knew of a player who had dealt with the mental illness.

Mackay psychologist Katrina Robertson said it wasn't just rugby league players who suffered from mental health issues.

"It doesn't matter if you're a great NRL player or not, we all struggle with things," she said. "In my experience, the thing that assists us through the difficult times isn't always that we've got people to talk to, but we've got people around us who we look up to, or can offer some words of wisdom."

Ms Robertson said sportspeople were under more pressure than the average person because they were in the public eye and everyone would be commenting on social media and online whether they've had a good or a bad game.

"Social media and technology are a part of our lives, but we need to be mindful that it's a virtual reality, it's not always the real thing," Ms Robertson said.

"They have a public and a private self, and we need to give them that opportunity to have a private self."